Oar assembly



April 22, 1952 A. R. wENDT ETAL 2,593,822

OAR ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 9, 1946 Patented pr. 22, 1952 "UN ITE D STATES PAT ENT .OFFICE oAR'AssEMBIzY .Arn'oldRfWendt'and J oh'annes-.K'ostem GrandRapids, Mich. .Application September 9, 1946,` Serial N'o..695,58i) y 9` Claims. (Cl. 9-25)` 1 This invention relates to improvements in. oar assemblies.

The mainy objects of thislinventionare:

First, to'providef. an oarassembly or rowing.I

apparatus ordevice'v infvvhich` the oars' may' be eifecti-vely operated with one hand.

Second, to provideI a rowing apparatus having this advantage which may be easily manipulated to'y steerv the boat-L Third, to providea. rowinglapparatus'of this character which lma'y be.v manipulatedwith the operatorl.facinglforwardly or rearwardly' as he may'desire.

Fourth, .to provideV a rowing apparatus or device having these advantagesv Whichis very economical initsfparts. and in the.. assembly thereof.

Fifth.. to provide-:a device of this character whichmay be readily embodied in or applied to widely'used types: of oars.

.Objects relating to. details" and economiesl of the.- invention will appearfrom the. description to follow.VV .Thefinvention is dei-inedand pointed out in the claims.

Preferred embodiments of the.. invention. are` illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

which: K, Y

Fig..1.isV a.- cross-sectional view of a boat equipped-with the oarassembly.- ofthe. invention..

the oarsfbeingshownby `fullllinesin dipped position, the` oars. and associated. parts. beingy shown in. dottedL outline lin another position. in. which only. one oar isdipped. theother being `ina raised or elevatedposition..

Fig. 1A isv an. enlarged fragmentary view partially in, section on the line IA-IA. of l Fig. V1.,

illustrating structuraly details of the-mounting of the. oarson the boat. n

Fig.4 2 isa-n enlarged-longitudinal section showing the relation of the handle bar to theoars ina ypreferred. embodiment thereof. l

Fig.. 3 is a. side.y 'elevational'y view partially in longitudinal section of a. modiedform or embodiment of.' theinvention in which the handle bar is connected to the oars by means of a clamp providingr for quick attachment and. detachment.

Fig.. 4 .isa cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of'Ei'gL 3. l

Eig't. ais a. fragmentary view of almodiiied form of universal .joint connection forftheI handlexb'ar torthe oars'.

' 2 Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view mainly in section of anothermodicaton in which the` universal joint is ofthe ball and socket type.

Fig. '7 isan enlarged'fragmentaryview-partially in section illustrating another adaptation ofthe invention.

ReferringV to the accompanying drawing and the embodiment of the invention shownfin Figs 1, i

1A` and-'2, I represents a boat of the'- at bottom type and 2M a `seat thereof. Theoars's` illustratedv comprise the' blades 4 and vshafts 'orloomsl 5. The

oarslarepivoted at Gon the-stirrups of the rowA locks 'which are Aprovided with vertical swivel stems'8` engaged in suitable vertically elongated sockets 9 in` the. angledv brackets or supporting' arms SI which are providedwith stems .or spindles` QZ'engaging Ithe sockets93 on the gunwales of the boat as more clearly shown inFig'f. 1A. V'The upwardly extending` member. provided witha socket. 9 at one .endof each y.arm-.9| constitutesa vertical' bearing memberfforfthe row lock for horizontal.. swinging. movementof .the` same. onA the arm, and the.` downwardly.l extending. spindle.

92 atrthe opposite. endofeach. arm 9 engaging vin the socket 93 on the gunwale of the boat-providesf-meansfor .horizontal swinging. movement ofeach arm 9I.V on the.. gunwale.

spaced.

The handle. bar I Iris. provided? Wlthfarzgrip -I-I disposed centrally thereofY and adapted; to bev graspedby one handvof the1 operator. .The;en'ds.-

ofi the. handlebar are connected toA theoars by:

universal joint; connections; designatedJ generallyV bythe numeral I2..

In the embodiment illustrated indetailinrlg. 2

journal pin IBL vThe-journal pinsv TI5 andL I 81- are arrangedY transversely" toeach other 'orfv at"f909 angular relation.

The members I6 are provided Withsockts' I9 receivingv the'ends of' theY oars, being "secured thereonA byi the* longitudinal-y screwsj 20.l andv the: transversescrews 2 I'. YThis providesjad connection:

The inner ends:v of the oar looms or shafts 5'are substantialiyv for the oars which permits their simultaneous actuation with one hand.

The handle bar may be tilted as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 to lift one oar to inoperative position, allowing the other oar to be dipped for steering the boat. This arrangement permits a fisherman, for example, to manipulate his fishing tackle with one hand while operating the boat with the other. It also enables handicapped persons to row eifectively.

In the modiiication of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the joint members 22' are provided with sockets 22 adapted to receive the grip portion 23 of the oar, the clamp member 24 pivoted at 25 securely clamping the oar to the joint member.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 the center coupling elements 26 are formed of hat metal `3I which are threaded upon the oars 32.

Fig. 7 is an adaptation of our invention to a row lock 33 of the type in which the shaft or loom of the oar 3 rests loosely in the fork 34 of the row lock, the row lock being provided With a stem 35 pivoted in the socket 36 on the gunwale of the boat. This avoids the use of the supporting arms or brackets 9| but requires somewhat more skill and effort on the part of the operator in the manipulation of the oars. For straight rowing the stems 8 of the row lock 1 may be engaged directly with the row lock sockets on the boat. However. the supporting arms add greater flexibility and scope of manipulation and greater ease in manipulation.

We have illustrated practical embodiments of the invention. We have not attempted to illustrate or describe other embodiments or adaptations which we contemplate as it is believed that this disclosure will enable those skilled in the art to embody or adapt the invention as may be desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An oar assembly comprising a pair of oars, row locks to which said oars are pivotally connected, a pair of horizontally swingable oar supporting arms for connection to the opposite sides of a boat, each arm at one end thereof having a downwardly projecting spindle for horizontally swingable connection of the arm to a boat, each arm at the opposite end thereof having an upwardly projecting member provided with a vertically elongated socket for horizontally swingable connection of the row lock to the arm, a

handle bar provided with a central grip, and universal joints connecting the ends of the handle bar to the inner ends of the oars between said row locks, whereby said oars may be simultaneously actuated from the handle bar and selectively tilted to non-operative position by tilting the handle bar.

f2. In a rowing device, the combination of a pair of oars, a handle bar disposed between and having universal joint connections to the inner ends of the oars, row locks' to which said oars are pivotally connected, said joint connections being connected to the oars between said row locks, and horizontally swingable supporting arms, a row lock being swivelly engaged to one end of each arm for horizontal swinging movement thereon, said supporting arms each having at the opposite end thereof a downwardly projecting spindle for horizontally swingable connection of the arm to a boat at points spaced from said row locks.

3. A rowing device comprising a pair of oars provided with swivel oarlocks on which the oars are pivotally mounted, the inner ends of the oars being substantially spaced, a handle bar, and universal joints connecting the ends of the handle bar to the inner ends of the oars between said row locks, and means for movably supporting said row locks on a boat for bodily movement of the row locks to and from each other upon operation of the oars by said handle, said oar locks being horizontally swingable on said means and being supported by said means for substantially horizontal bodily movement of the same to and from each other.

4.L A rowing device comprising in combination a pair of oars having means intermediate the ends thereof for swingably connecting the oars to a boat, a handleV bar having a universal joint at each end thereof, the outer members of said universal joints being provided with clamps for said handle bar provided with clamps detachably engageable with the inner ends of the oars, said clamps including tubular members telescopingly engageable over` the inner ends of the oars, and members adjustably supported by said tubular members for clampingly engaging said inner ends.

6. A rowng device comprising a pair of oars provided with swivel oarlocks on which the oars are `pivotally mounted, the inner ends of the oars being substantially spaced, a handle bar, and ball and socket universal joints connecting the endsA of the handle bar to the adjacent inner ends of the oars. v

7. I n a rowing apparatus, the combination of a pair of oars provided with row locks on which the'oars'are pivotally mounted, a handle bar. and-universal joint connections for the ends of said vhandle bar to the adjacent inner ends of the oars between said row locks, said handle bar having forked ends, joint forks secured to the inner ends of said oars. journal blocks, and pivot pins for said journal blocks carried by said forks and arrangedtransversely to each other and members for movably supporting said row locks on a boat for bodily movement of the row locks to and fromeach other during the operation of the v ends for substantially horizontally swingable connection of the arms to a boat, and a handle bar having universal joint connections to the inner ends of said oars.

9. In a rowing apparatus the combination of a pair of oars, row locks for the oars, substantially horizontally swingable supporting arms for said row locks means at the outer ends of said arms for substantially horizontally swingably connecting the row locks to the arms, means at the inner ends of said arms for substantially horizontally swingably connecting the arms to a boat, and a handle bar having universal joint connections to the inner ends of said oars.

ARNOLD R. WENDT. JOHANNES KOSTEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Heroux May 4, 1869 Corwin Aug. 22, 1882 Masay July 3, 1888 Reynolds Nov. 28, 1893 Johnson Aug. 6, 1912 Gunderson Apr. 23, 1918 Vander Meer Jan. 4, 1944 Ship July 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date, Germany Aug. 8, 1903 Germany Aug. 18, 1924 Great Britain 1893 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1927 

